It's been a gloomy day here. Not much sun, a little rain. We got out of the house this morning for 2 hours and now feel stuck at home. We watched our afternoon movie, napped, and now it's time for the rest of our day. . . . but what do we do?
Here's my quick go-to list of indoor activities that keep the boys interested for more than a couple minutes.
1. Swim in the bathtub- they love to bring toys in the tub and this is a chance to play with different toys! This can also be jazzed up by turning it into a bubble bath, using a bath bomb, changing the water color, "painting" on themselves with shaving cream, or by pretending they're pirates out to sea.
2. Playdoh- we have many specific playdoh toys, but sometimes that's even boring. By using my 101 cookie cutters, they'll have fun for at least an hour.....or twenty minutes. I have letters and numbers so they can practice sight words and their names. OR if they're not in a learning mood, I'll let them dig through the utensil drawer to find 3-4 tools of their own to use for cutting and making fun designs. If I were feeling braver (another day...) I'd let them get their own toys to make tracks and explore with: plastic animals, trucks, etc.
3. Paints- paint dots, finger paints, craft paint, water colors.....we're pretty stocked so they have a variety of choices when one of them suggests he wants to paint. Instead of paper, they can paint rocks, paper bags, paper plates, or craft sticks.
4. Obstacle course- this one is a favorite that we haven't played in a loooooong time. I'll create an obstacle course in the living room for them to explore. Over, under, through, around, between.
5. Bake something- both boys admit their favorite thing to do with mom is bake something, so we have unlimited possibilities in the kitchen. Isaac's favorite is banana bread and Eli prefers cookies or cake. I could go for anything, especially something sweet.
6. School work- each of the boys has a "school book" that they can use to trace, identify, sound, and explore letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and basic math skills. We're working our way through the books and I think it's great to get Isaac ready for school this way and for Eli to be tested in his school work this way. Sorry, not a great chance of having that 5 day weekend for my kid!
7. Read, write, and color- We read books, color in one of the many coloring book, and write letters. Nothing too exciting but they're great transition activities for when we need to calm down.
8. We can't forget to just let them be kids and make them play! They can, and do, come up with their own activities and have opinions of what they want to do. I just like to be ready and give options when they are finished with one activity and need attention focused else where. :)
What are you doing on this dreary day?
Here's my quick go-to list of indoor activities that keep the boys interested for more than a couple minutes.
1. Swim in the bathtub- they love to bring toys in the tub and this is a chance to play with different toys! This can also be jazzed up by turning it into a bubble bath, using a bath bomb, changing the water color, "painting" on themselves with shaving cream, or by pretending they're pirates out to sea.
2. Playdoh- we have many specific playdoh toys, but sometimes that's even boring. By using my 101 cookie cutters, they'll have fun for at least an hour.....or twenty minutes. I have letters and numbers so they can practice sight words and their names. OR if they're not in a learning mood, I'll let them dig through the utensil drawer to find 3-4 tools of their own to use for cutting and making fun designs. If I were feeling braver (another day...) I'd let them get their own toys to make tracks and explore with: plastic animals, trucks, etc.
3. Paints- paint dots, finger paints, craft paint, water colors.....we're pretty stocked so they have a variety of choices when one of them suggests he wants to paint. Instead of paper, they can paint rocks, paper bags, paper plates, or craft sticks.
4. Obstacle course- this one is a favorite that we haven't played in a loooooong time. I'll create an obstacle course in the living room for them to explore. Over, under, through, around, between.
5. Bake something- both boys admit their favorite thing to do with mom is bake something, so we have unlimited possibilities in the kitchen. Isaac's favorite is banana bread and Eli prefers cookies or cake. I could go for anything, especially something sweet.
6. School work- each of the boys has a "school book" that they can use to trace, identify, sound, and explore letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and basic math skills. We're working our way through the books and I think it's great to get Isaac ready for school this way and for Eli to be tested in his school work this way. Sorry, not a great chance of having that 5 day weekend for my kid!
7. Read, write, and color- We read books, color in one of the many coloring book, and write letters. Nothing too exciting but they're great transition activities for when we need to calm down.
8. We can't forget to just let them be kids and make them play! They can, and do, come up with their own activities and have opinions of what they want to do. I just like to be ready and give options when they are finished with one activity and need attention focused else where. :)
What are you doing on this dreary day?
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